Eastern Europe Liaison Committee Annual Report 2019

1.
Conferences

The
LC conducted a successful pre-conference in Athens, 6-7 August, 2018, with 10
emerging scholars (including 5 women) from Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland,
Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, Armenia) and from Greece presenting their research
at the pre-conference and then attending the SNTS General Meetings. This was
made possible in part by the SNTS sponsorship programme and through the
generosity of the local hosts in Athens (accommodation) and additional
assistance from the universities of Regensburg and Jena. Most met their own
travel costs.

The
LC was engaged in a conference on the Gospel according to Matthew in Moscow,
24-28 September, 2018, which brought together ca 15 speakers from Western
Europe, Australia and the USA, who had been invited by the Aspirantura/
Doktorantura of the Russian Orthodox Church to present and discuss recent
research on Matthew. SNTS member Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) officially
opened the conference. After the conference, the western participants gave a
series of 15 lectures in the Higher School of Economics (Oriental Department)
and in the Aspirantura/Doktorantura on core topics of NT research for graduate
students and Bible teachers from seminars or academies in Russia.

Members
of the LC participated in the regional conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, 11-13
October, 2018 to celebrate 20 years of the Bibliotheca Biblica in Sofia. 22 Old
and New Testament scholars from Bulgaria, Serbia, North-Macedonia, Greece,
Germany, and Switzerland presented papers on the topic of the relationship
between Old and New Testament.

The 8th International East-West
Symposium of Biblical scholars run under the auspices of the LC took place in
Romania, 26-30 May, 2019, in the Caraiman Monastery. There were ca 50 active
participants, including 8 women, from 18 countries (Russia, Estonia, Ukraine,
Armenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, North Macedonia,
Greece, Latvia, Austria, Germany Australia, USA, UK, Lebanon) plus ca 10 from
Romania. The topic, “Stories and Images of the Human Being in NT and Church
Tradition”, was addressed through 10 main papers and 15 seminar papers and
extensive discussion. In addition, a section of the conference was devoted to
Bible translation and Biblical scholarship in Romania past and present. Morning
and evening prayers were held in the main chapel of the monastery common, led
by participants from different countries and confessions. With the blessing of
His Blessedness Patriarch Daniel the Orthodox Church of Romania hosted the
conference and covered half of its costs, the remaining costs being met by
several donors and institutions in Romania and Germany (e.g., University of
Regensburg, Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland). A conference volume will be
published with Mohr Siebeck (Tübingen).

2. Libraries
and Biblical Institutes

Bibliotheca
Biblica Sofia celebrated its 20th year of existence (see above) and continues
to grow.

Bibliotheca
Biblica St. Petersburg is growing rather slowly, but under difficult
circumstances from the side of university bureaucracy, as has been reported
regularly by its director Professor Anatoly A. Alexeev. The prospect of opening
a Theological Faculty at St. Petersburg State University sounds promising, but
is beset with complications in the process of bringing this about.

A
third biblical library in Belgrade at the Biblical Institute (BINST) of Theological
Faculty is growing remarkably thanks to several donations of larger book
collections. The Biblical Institute at the Theological Faculty of Belgrade is
very active in developing new formats for interdisciplinary research in Serbia
and the Balkan region. As an example, recently a project to translate the
Septuagint into Serbian has been launched by the BINST.

3.
Publications

Conference
volume of the Seventh International East-West Symposium of Biblical scholars in
Moscow 2016. A Russian translation of contributions to the EELC symposium in
Moscow has been published already. The official conference volume, edited by M.
Seleznev, T. Nicklas and K.-W. Niebuhr, is already in print and will appear
later this year with Mohr Siebeck (Tübingen).

A
conference volume consisting of the papers given at the Conference on Matthew
in Moscow (see above) is in preparation also with Mohr Siebeck for the WUNT
series.

The
Centre for Biblical Studies at Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (Romania)
publishes the journal Sacra Scripta. Journal of the Centre for Biblical
Studies (ISSN 1584-7624). Two issues of vol. XVI appeared in 2018. In 2017,
vol. XV/1-2 was published as a “Festschrift für Ulrich Luz zum 80. Geburtstag”
and was handed over to him on his birthday on 23 February, 2018.

4. Plans

The LC will be involved in a regional conference on Luke-Acts in Moscow, September 2020

The EELC will be cooperating with the Latin America Caribbean LC in running a partly joint pre-conference in Rome, 27-28 July